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After a 350-kilometre drive east to the Forest of Dadia near the Turkish border, the morning pays off with close encounters with some of Greece’s most impressive raptors. Waiting for the thermals to rise, the photographer hopes to catch Griffon Vultures, Black Vultures and the summer-migrant Egyptian Vulture as they soar over the ridges and roosting peaks.

The session is a patient wildlife photography and birdwatching outing, with the rising sun creating both a challenge and a dramatic backdrop. A brief flurry of activity brings sightings of Griffon and Black Vultures, followed later by Egyptian Vultures in flight, along with a Short-toed Eagle and a Sparrowhawk harassing ravens near its nest. It is a real-world look at fieldcraft, timing, and the unpredictable rewards of photographing birds of prey in the wild.

Created for viewers who enjoy wild bird photography, raptor watching, wildlife documentary-style travel, and nature photography in Greece. It also suits anyone searching for vulture photography, birding videos, birds of prey, or calm outdoor nature content with a strong sense of place.

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Travel
Transcript
00:28Satsang with Mooji
00:59Satsang with Mooji
01:29Satsang with Mooji
01:29This area is known for its raptors and it boasts 36 out of the 39 European species of raptor exist
01:40here.
01:41And in particular this morning I've come up here to this highest point because I'm after some very specific birds.
01:51And if I tell you that I'm waiting for the thermals to kick in just as the sun rises in
01:58the hope that we might get a viewing of them, you'll probably guess that I'm after vultures.
02:04And in particular there's three vultures that live here, or two are permanently resident and one is a sun visitor.
02:12It's the griffin vulture, black vulture and the Egyptian vulture.
02:18And these peaks around here are known roosting spots and hopefully in the early morning we'll get some thermal action
02:29and we should get them flying overhead.
02:32And in this location they come pretty close as well so I'm really hopeful we might get some really fantastic
02:37images and some videos for you.
02:40So all that remains is just to wait it out now, I hope the thermals will kick in in a
02:46bit and we should get some nice viewings.
02:49So I'll catch up with you then.
03:30That was a little bit of excitement, there was a couple of ravens and a falcon of some kind.
03:38Something that looked like he was protecting his net, but it was so far away I couldn't actually see what
03:49it was.
03:53At least I think it was a falcon.
03:59It could be a sparrowhawk, I think a sparrowhawk.
04:19Something's just appeared, it's totally silhouetted against the sky, so I can't tell exactly what it is.
04:27It's a vulture and it's a bit behind me.
04:39He's just appeared over the rock there and the thing is they don't call, totally silent and I just happened
04:48to look around because a shadow came over me and he's gone behind the rocks there now.
04:58I'm trying to track them at this distance, it's the next impossible.
05:10He just disappears from focus, he's so small in frame the camera can't pick him up.
05:39There's a couple over there flying really high as well.
05:42There's a couple over there flying really high as well.
05:46As fantastic a spot as this is for spotting them, because like I say they do like to come up
05:52on the early morning thermals.
05:53The only problem with that is that I'm facing east, which is straight into the rising sun, which makes it
06:05a real challenge.
06:07And photographing here in the afternoon with the sun behind me from the west, which means that they would be
06:13lit up perfectly, is not an option because they don't tend to soar around here in the afternoons, at least
06:21not from my experience at any rate.
06:27I tend to like the early morning thermals here.
06:36And just like that they disappeared.
06:43But it is very hit and miss with these birds.
06:48There is no guarantee.
06:52But even that brief sighting is wonderful.
06:58Nothing for ages and then all at once.
07:02And it's a choice of getting photos or video on these sort of things.
07:08I can't seem to get both.
07:13Especially with birds flying so high into the sun like that the camera just wouldn't focus in video when it
07:18was in video mode.
07:21Oh, they're back again.
07:23OK.
07:25OK.
07:29OK.
07:34OK.
08:16Okay, so I got two out of the three vulture species so far, black mulch and griffin, and I got
08:25photos, and I'm not sure what the video is going to look like.
08:31I hope at least there's a few seconds worth that I can show you, because they are just such a
08:37beautiful bird.
08:39So after that flurry of activity, which lasted about five minutes in total, ten at the most, after waiting for
08:49three hours, it's all gone.
08:52Oh, Egyptians. Egyptian vultures. Egyptian vultures. Egyptian vultures. Fantastic.
08:58Right above me, though. Come on.
10:17A mile up. There's three of them. Amazing.
10:32And I was about to say I turned the vlogging camera on just to say that I was going to
10:38call it quits in a while because after that flurry I didn't expect anything else to turn
10:43up. And just then I got three Egyptian vultures. Awesome. They're flying way over into the
10:55distance now. Fantastic. So anyway, I hope the video that I did get of it was in focus.
11:04It's difficult to tell off the back of the screen. I think I did get some decent shots,
11:12photos. Cool. Okay, so I got a couple of shots that are decent at any rate. What better way
11:19to spend the morning. Okay, I'll catch up with you in a little while. So I've been scanning
11:30the ridges and I don't think that anything else is going to come along. Nothing has flown
11:37past since the Egyptian vultures flew off towards the plain down there. So I think I'm going to
11:45call it a video for now. Super successful morning I think. We got all three vulture species.
11:54Griffin, black and Egyptian vulture. As well as a sighting. I don't think I managed to get
11:59any photos of him though. Short-toed eagle. And also the sparrowholt just up here on the
12:06rock having a go at the ravens that were disturbing his nest or her nest I should say. As I
12:13think
12:13it was a female. Yeah, so very happy with this morning's result. I hope you've enjoyed watching
12:22and I hope to see you again very soon. Bye for now.
12:33you

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